Queen City Rocker
1986 film
Queen City Rocker is a 1986 New Zealand film developed from a 10-page outline written by Richard Lymposs, a sixteen-year-old Auckland youth with no prior film or writing experience. In 1981, Lymposs sold Queen City Rocker to Larry Parr, a budding Auckland film producer, and it was shot in 1985. It was directed by Bruce Morrison and starred Matthew Hunter, Mark Pilisi and Kim Willoughby. The screenplay was written by Bill Baer. The film was released as Tearaway on video cassette in the United States.
Musician Dave McArtney of Hello Sailor wrote most of the original music in the film, which also featured other artists including Ardijah, Graham Brazier and Tex Pistol. The soundtrack to the movie was released by Auckland-based Pagan Records. The music ranges from southern reggae to ska to punk, reflecting the late-1970's to early-1980's vibrant underswell in the Auckland music scene.
The original story focused on the friendship between two buddies in actual warring gangs of that time in Auckland. No mention of these two gangs was in the film.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Queen City Rocker” is 1986 film. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Queen, City and Rocker, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1986 film” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7270269. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1981, 1985 and 1970.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Queen City Rocker”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Queen City Rocker primary sources, Queen City Rocker archive and Queen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Queen City Rocker”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Queen City Rocker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.